Itzhak Perlman featured in Arte Magazine and film airing on Arte

Itzhak Perlman’s documentary film “Itzhak” is airing on Arte (Photo credit: Drew Gurian / Masterclass)

Sound Is What You Feel
By Lydia Evers
Arte Magazine
June, 2020

Judge me by what I can do and not what I can't do, ”Itzhak Perlman once said. He has been dependent on walking aids since childhood. And today one of the most renowned violinists in the world. Born in 1945 in Poland as the son of Polish emigrants, he came to New York at the age of 13, where he still lives with his family. At the time, many underestimated Perlman because of his disability. Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin, however, saw him as the next great virtuoso in their field. They should be right. The 74-year-old tells ARTE magazine about his passion and a very special love story.

ARTE MAGAZINE: Mr. Perlman, is your favorite sound really hissing onions in a frying pan?

Itzhak Perlman: I must have said that, at least it sounds like me. When I teach, I keep throwing sounds and food into one pot. Of course this is not my favorite sound, but I enjoy making these comparisons.

ARTE MAGAZINE: Are you a connoisseur then?

Itzhak Perlman: Oh yes, I love to cook. And to eat - unfortunately! At my age I have to be careful.

ARTE MAGAZINE: US President Barack Obama once said that you treat music like anything else in life with passion and joy. What is your secret?

Itzhak Perlman: You know, it's just part of my DNA, my personality. When I heard music on the radio for the first time as a child, I was immediately touched. It is not important to other people. So everyone is different. My passion for music is innate. And that surely spills over to other areas of life.

ARTE MAGAZINE: You contracted polio at the age of four and have needed walking aids ever since. Shortly afterwards you started playing the violin. Should the tool help you cope better with the consequences of the disease?

Itzhak Perlman: No, I wanted to take violin lessons at the age of three, but was still too small. At five it finally worked. My parents decided that despite the physical limitations, I should get classes. Your attitude to the disease has shaped me very much. I never felt sorry for myself and always focused on the things I could. I even played soccer with my friends - I was the perfect goalkeeper with the crutches.

ARTE MAGAZINE: You recorded the title melody for the film “Schindler's List” (1993). When you perform with the play today, does the memory of your parents' escape from the Holocaust resonate?

Itzhak Perlman: When composer John Williams asked me if I wanted to play the film's soundtrack, I didn't know the story of Oskar Schindler. I didn't know that he had saved so many Jews. My parents had managed to emigrate from Poland to Israel before the war. But many of my relatives, including my grandparents, lost their lives in the Holocaust. I think of her and all the other victims while playing.

ARTE MAGAZINE: You once said that the more you carry in your heart, the better what you get out of the violin sounds.

Itzhak Perlman: So it is. The sound of the violin is what you feel. Sounds are like fingerprints - everyone hears and feels the music individually and differently and uniquely. If someone asks me how I can create this sound, I can't answer that. I just feel it.

ARTE MAGAZINE: Isn't the sound also due to the Stradivarius you're playing on?

Itzhak Perlman: My emotions when playing express themselves equally on every violin. The Stradivari makes it easier for me to express my feelings. It jumps directly to my mood changes and sound ideas.

ARTE MAGAZIN: 1986 you bought the violin Yehudi Menuhin. How did that happen?

Itzhak Perlman: At the beginning of my career in the 1960s I visited him once in England and was allowed to try out his violin, this Stradivarius. I hadn't played on it for 30 seconds before I was head over heels in love with her. I had found my dream violin. And asked Menuhin, should he ever want to sell her, to think of me. In 1986 this dream came true.

To read the original article in German, click here.